Austrian Space Forum selects 19 international experiments for Oman Mars simulation

Among selected institutions are teams from Oman, North America and Europe

The OeWF has selected 19 experiments from international and domestic submissions to be part of the Mars analog mission in Oman. AMADEE-18 will take place in February of 2018 in partnership with the Oman steering committee. The experiments selected are in the fields of geosciences, engineering, planetary surface operations, life sciences including astrobiology and human factors.

AMADEE-18 is a simulation mission that will be conducted by the Austrian Space Forum in partnership with the Sultanate of Oman. The four-week mission will take place in the Oman desert during February 2018 and will serve as an analog mission for future crewed missions to the planet Mars. The submissions received were from a multitude of different nations and varied from educational institutions such as Western University in Australia to space agencies such as the Italian Space Agency. The selected experiments are to be tested in the field during the mission. The selection process consisted of an intensive peer review session within the Austrian Space Forum and marks the first step in preparations for the mission.

“We are very proud to announce that we have received a great number of innovative, cutting-edge experiment submissions to be carried out aboard our 13th analog mission in the Oman desert. I personally believe, that many of the experiments selected belong to some of the strongest mission experiments we have seen yet”,

stresses Dr. Gernot Grömer, President of the Austrian Space Forum and Mission Field Commander and continues;

“as seen in earlier missions we are also prepared to deal with changes of this reference selection that might occur during pre-mission qualifications. However we consider this list a very good representation of the science that will take place during AMADEE-18.”

The following experiments have been chosen to be brought aboard the Mars analog mission and to be tested in the fiel:

Biology and Medical Sciences

HortExtreme, Italian Space Agency, Italy
Mobile and inflatable green house with hydroponics, to be used for the cultivation of microgreens.

MarSeq, University of Innsbruck, Austria
DNA-sequencing supported by rovers

FATIGUE, Medical University of Vienna, Department of Anaesthesia, Austria
Analysing physical and mental fatigue of Analog Astronauts during AMADEE-18

Human Factors

TEAM, Western University, Department Of Psychology & Mission Control Space Services, Canada
Study on the level and fluctuation, over time, of team cohesion, conflict and performance and determination of
“person” factors (e.g. personality)

CHRONOS, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Poland
Investigating if time of day has an impact on efficiency of the functioning of working memory and the effectiveness of actions in specific conditions

SIT-AS, University of Witten/Herdecke, Germany
Examination of the situational awareness in and between co-working

MIMIC, TU Graz, Signal Processing and Speech Communication Laboratory, Austria
A computerized analysis of verbal communication to study the mechanisms of psychological and physiological adaptation or maladaptation in extreme or stressful environments.

MSTAT, Ben Gurion University, Earth and Planetary Imaging Facility (EPIF), Israel
The situational awareness training aims to simulate two separated groups of astronauts on Mars

Hardware

WARTOG, Final Frontier Design, USA
Investigation of the abrasion of final frontier’s space suit glove outer layer

Software

THESEOS, Mission Control Space Services, Canada
Deployment of the Autonomous Soil Assessment System (ASAS) on a tele- operated planetary rover prototype

Virtual Reality:

V(R)ITAGO, Mars Planet, Italy
Virtual Reality tool for astronaut training and to aid the RSS (Remote Science Support) team in analyzinggeological features.

Robotics

Husky Autonomous Rover, TU Graz, Institute of Software Technology, Austria
An autonomous rover that supports astronauts and aids in area mapping

AVI-NAV, nstitute of Smart System Technology, Alpe-Adria Univ. Klagenfurt, Austria
Drone with vertical take-off and landing capabilities for efficient area exploration and low latency visual feedback
to the crew or/and ground personnel

Geosciences

ScanMars, University of Perugia, Department of Physics and Geology, Italien
Subsurface Characterization of a Martian Analog through 2D/3D Ground Penetrating Radar datasets

Field Spectrometry, Italian Space Agency (ASI/URS), Italy
Acquisition of reflectance and radiance spectra in an environment analogous to Mars

Junior Researchers Program

Water Explorer, Highschool student, Oman
Water detection via a geophone mounted on a rover, which measures thereflection of ultrasound waves

TumbleWeed, Sir Karl Popper school, Vienna, Austria
A wind propelled compact rover to be used for efficient Mars exploration

A3DPT Mars, TU Graz, Austria
3D printing operational workflow experiments for crewed Mars expeditions

EOS, HTL Eisenstadt, Österreich
Radio Navigation System for EVAs on GPS- less planet

 WHAT ARE MARS ANALOG MISSIONS?

To prepare for future crewed missions on Mars, the Austrian Space Forum organizes Mars simulations on Earth. In 2015, the Austrian Space Forum and international partners conducted its 11thanalogue mission AMADEE-15- a two-week Mars simulation mission on a rock glacier in the Kaunertal,  Austria that resembles Martian terrain. Communication between the Mission Support Center and the field crew was time-delayed to emulate the conditions of a Mars expedition. The Analog-Astronauts performed crucial experiments in the fields of geology, astrobiology and engineering, thus gathering valuable data for future missions on Mars. Dr. Gernot Grömer, President of the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF), emphasizes the importance of Mars Analogue Missions: “Through testing equipment, software, procedures and workflows that will be implemented in future human missions to Mars we try to find out what is not yet working, what needs to be redesigned, rethought. After all, it’s better to find the flaw in Mars-equipment here on Earth rather than on Mars where spare parts are a 6-monthsjourney away at best.”

The Austrian Space Forum’s missions draw considerable media and social media attention across the globe. More than one million people followed the last mission and got a closer look at the cutting edge of research in Austria.

AUSTRIAN SPACE FORUM (OEWF) IS ONE OF 5 GROUPS WORLDWIDE TO DEVELOP A MARS-SUIT-PROTOTYPE

To perform the experiments, the OeWF’s Analog-Astronauts wear the 45kg prototype spacesuit “Aouda” with an incorporated interface to assist the astronaut. The spacesuit is designed to deliver the astronaut’s vital data and mimic the restrictions of a spacesuit that will be worn by astronauts on Mars. Aouda provides movement restrictions, limited sensory input as well as the weight and an uncomfortably high centre of gravity typical of a pressure suit worn in space. Thus it enables the Austrian Space Forum’s Analog-Astronauts to test equipment, workflows and experiments meant for the Red Planet under Mars-like conditions. By developing the spacesuit simulator the Austrian Space Forum also aims to optimize interactions with other (robotic) components – such as a rover – and minimize the risk of human contamination.

 ABOUT THE AUSTRIAN SPACE FORUM (OEWF)

The Austrian Space Forum (ÖsterreichischesWeltraum Forum, OeWF) is a national network for aerospace engineers, scientists and people with a passion for space. This citizen-science organization is involved in leading-edge space exploration research and serves as a communication platform between the space sector and the public; it is embedded in a global network of specialists from the space industry, research and policy.
AMADEE-18 is the OeWF’s 12th analog Mars mission conducted in cooperation with international partners.  www.oewf.org

Media contact:
Mag. Monika Fischer
Media Officer, Austrian Space Forum
+43 699 1213 4610

This article is available in: German